Listen of the Week

I listen to quite a lot of radio and a lot of podcasts. It is amazing how much truly excellent programming is out there, free for our enjoyment. There are many, many shows that I never, ever miss. And sometimes, when you're crazy about something, don't you just want to share the love. My recommendation today is an astounding, creepy, and most definitely unique Fresh Air interview about ANTS! More than you ever wanted to know about these super-interesting little critters. If you listen to the show, let me know what you think!

Vegan Update #1, Food Review #1

As it turns out, making the change from vegetarian to vegan is SO MUCH HARDER than the change from meat-eater to vegetarian. Becoming vegetarian couldn't even be described as hard. So I'm going easy on myself, forgiving myself for not going cold tofurky, allowing myself to do this incrementally, one day, one choice at a time. I am very slowly reading Becoming Vegan, and it seems to be an excellent resource. More on the book as I delve deeper.
Also, I am NOT big on convenience foods, but to ease the transition I tried a couple products. One gets a big thumbs up, the other I would only loosely define as "food." The unsuccessful experiment first: Soy-sation shredded "cheese." I don't even think this is totally animal-free, and it's terrible anyway. Bad flavor, bad texture. Boo. BUT, the triumph: Purely Decadent vegan ice cream. I have tried two flavors, Cookie Dough and Peanut Butter Zig Zag. The latter is my favorite, but both are quite tasty. Though this is vegan, it is not, I repeat NOT, health food. Vegans need something sinful every now and then, too.

La Dolce Vita

This evening, as part of our glorious 'staycation', we (the hubs, the two kiddos, and I) went out for an early dinner at a great local Italian joint called Giovanni's. Sitting in a nifty little booth tucked into a corner by the window, enjoying good wine and even better pizza, my thoughts traveled back to the last time we dined there. Just over two years ago, the same group, plus my sister, sat at a table in the center of the dining room, embarking on a strange new adventure. She had just arrived in our neck of the woods, bringing her five month old son who was to stay with us indefinitely. It was a jittery meal, the way any meal with two infants and their somewhat freaked-out first time moms might be. Justin and I were adjusting to our new reality, he having lost his job less than two months before. Due to my breastfeeding daughter's apparent allergy, I was off dairy, which made my meal disappointing. Everything in our world felt shaky and our future looked uncharted, if not entirely uncertain. And the path of the subsequent two years did turn out to be surprising in many ways. On the positive side, my fears of financial devastation never came to fruition. My the grace of God, we were always able to pay our rent, keep the lights on, and we didn't lose the car. On the other hand, I did not predict certain friends would basically abandon us during the rockiest time in our life thus far.
So, a lovely meal was made all the more lovely as I realized just how much all of us have grown. In small ways, like the fact that going out with the kids doesn't seem so impossible. That the two of them are generally joyful and well-adjusted. And in bigger ways, like how much closer my husband and I became through suffering and struggling and triumphing together. As I've mentioned before, the future is still a big mystery, and our stability is not completely, well, stable. But the lesson we learned, between one visit to Giovanni's and the next, is that whatever happens, we can handle it.

Anger Into Action

The other day, a friend of mine posted that gawd-awful cow abuse video on facebook, and something in me snapped. I typed out this angry rant about how people get so up-in-arms when something like that comes to the public's attention, and then turn right around and go back to supporting the system that allows, even encourages, it to happen. I have been vegetarian for nearly a decade, and have NEVER been preachy or judgemental or militant. But I was, and am, so angry.
Then, before I hit the button to post it, I decided to turn the critique inward. Have I done everything I can not to support the cruel institutions that provide most of America's food? No. Just that night we'd ordered pizza, the cheese on which certainly came from miserable cows. So instead of posting my angry, accusatory statement (which wouldn't have converted anyone), I decided that I want to work on going vegan. I requested the book Becoming Vegan from the library. I already have at least 6 great vegan cookbooks. I plan to pore over vegan websites and blogs. I'm really looking forward to studying this, and very satisfied that I'm making the right decision.